Screw-driving machine.



UNITED sTATas PATENT (.iirFIeE.

FRANK W. SANFORD, OF BOSTON, .\lASSACilUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO MARSHALL ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Ol" BOSTON. M.'\SS.\CllUSl'iTTS. A COR- PORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

SCREW-DRIVING HACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1907.

Application Iled April 14. 1902. Serial llo. 102.765.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANK W. SANFORD, of Boston in the county of Sull'olk and State of .\lassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Screw-Driving Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to provide a machine whereby screws ma be rapidly and conveniently inserted in metal plates or other work.

To this end the invention coin rises means for presenting the screw in position to be insorted and means for rotating the screw to drive it into the work.

'lhe invention alsocoinpriscs means for separating screws ,from a mass of screws and presenting them successively in position to )e inserted in the work and means for rotating the screws to drive them into the work.

'In addition to these features the invention comprises further features which are of iinportance in contributing to the elliciencgr and simplicity of a machine embodying the road features. One of these features comprises means for holding the screw which is so mounted that it will move with the screw until the screw has`4 entered the work and which is then operated to release the screw so that it may be driven home.

These and the other features of the invention will be best understood from a detailed descri tion of a machine in which I have einb ied all the various features of my invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of such machine. Fi 2 is a sectional Iilan view on line 2 2 li r. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail showing the screw holder and screw driver, and Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 Fi f. 2.

Inthe machine shown in the drawin 'the screw s to be inserted into the work indicated at w, is held in position above the work b a holding device consisting of two 1aws a which engage the shank ofthe screw be ow its head.

hese jaws are iii the form of vlevers pivotcd to a carrier b so that they may be moved away from each other to release the screw and also to allow the head of the screw to pass between them. The carrier b is pivoted at b so that the jaws a may move with the screw as it is carried towards the work and may continue to support the screw until it has been partially inserted in the work.

The screw is driven into the work by a screw driver c arranged to engage the head of the screw and rotated through a pulley c so connected with the driver that the driver is rotated thereby while being free to move longitudinally therethrough. 'lhe screw driver may be moved towards and away from the work by a lever d which is connected with the driver through a pin d projecting into an annular groove in the driver, or the driver may be reciprocatcd automaticallyl through a rotary cani e arranged above the end of the driver and a spring c which holds the driver in engagement. with the cani.

To insert a screw thi .vork is placed in position under the screw Iiolder where it inav `be positioned bv suitable gages as q with the e driven carried bythe hole into whiei the screw is to directly under the screw holder. The driver is then brought down onto the head of the screw and carries the screw down towards the work, the screw holder swinging about the pivot b and presenting the screw to the hole in the work. As thescrew is carried downward the teat c at the end of the driver engages the slot in the head of the screw and rotates the screw so that it is screwed into the hole in the work. When the screw has been introduced into the hole in the worky and no longer requires any other support the jaws of the carrierare opened and pass from under the `head of the screw so that the head may be brought down into engagement with thc work. The means employed for opening thc Jaws of the screw holder consists of a wed e shaped cam 7i which passes between the evers forming the jaws and spreads them apart as the jaws are drawn towards each other by a spring h and are held up in normal position by a spring h.

The screws are automatically fed to the screw holder from a feed chute i by a reciprocating finger This finger is pivoted to the free end of an arm y" pivoted to the chute 'i and is held in engagement with the upper 100 which enga s 1. as the upper edges of the sse-seta.

surface of the chute by a spring j. The feeding finger is operated from the screw driver through a lever k the rear end of es the arm and the other front end of whic i is engage by a collar l." on the driver. When the driver is moved downward the lever k is rocked and lifts the arms j thereby drawing the fin er rearward over the head of the screw justac of said finger. When the driver is raised the feeding finger moves forward pushing the screw in front of it forward into the screw holding jaws.

The screw holder is )rovided with a slot a' along which the shan of the screw passes as it is pushed forward by the feeding fin rer into lposition at the forward end of the s ot whic i is shaped to fit the shank of the screw and hold it in position. Thus at each upward movement of the screw driver a screw is separated from the screws in the feed chute and presented in position to be operated upon by the driver on its next downward movement.

The feed chute consists of an inclined track formed of two rails i between. which the shanks of the screws pass, the screws being supported by the engagement of the heads with the upper edges of the rails. The screws are separated from a mass of screws in a hopper l by two oscillating )lates l which form continuations of the rai s i. As these plates pass up through the screws in the hopper some o said screws are pickUd up and these screws slide down onto the rails lates become inclined towards the rails. he plates are operated from a crank wheel lx through a connecting rod l.

. What I claim and desire to secure by LettersPatentis:

1. A screw driving' machine comprising means for rotating the .screw to drive it into the work, a screw. holder moving with the screw, and devicesfor opening the holder as it moves with the screw, substantially as described. f

2. A screw driving machine comprising a rotary and reciprocatingscrewah'iver for engaging and driving the screw, screw holding jaws arranged to underlie the head of the screw and guide it until engaged with the work, and devices whereby the movement of the jaws with the screw carries the jaws out of the path of the screw head, substantially as described. Y

3. A screw driving machine comprising a rotary and reciprocating screw driver for engaging and driving-the screw, a feed chute for the screws, screw holding jaws separated by a slot extending in the same direction as and form' a continuation of the guiding slot of thnfeed chute, and forming a guide- Iway along which the shank of the screw passes as the screw is fed into position, substantially as described.

4. A screw driving machine comprising a rotary and reciprocating screw driver for engaging and driving the screw, a feed chute for the screws, a serew holder com )rising two screw supporting arms separated by a slot arranged in h'nc with and extcndin from the slot in the feed chute to the ends o the arms by which thc screws are guided to a osition under the screw-driver, and devices fldr separating individual screws from the screws in the chiite and delivering them to i' he holder, substantially as described.

5. A screw driving machine comprising a rotary and reciprocating screw-driver for engaging and driving the screws, a feed chute for the screws, a screw holder comprising two vieldingly supported arms separated by a slot arranged in line with and forming a continuation of the slot in the feed chute by which the screws are guided as they pass from the chute to a position under the screw driver, devices for separating and delivering individual screws from the screws in the feed chiite, and devices for separating the screw holder arms as they move downward with the screw, substantially as described.

6. A screw driving machine comprising a rotary and reciprocating screw driver for engagin and driving the screw, a screw holder provi ed with jaws for underlying the head of the screw and guiding it until engaged with the work, a feed chute for the screws, a slot in the screw holder in line with and ei:- tending from the chute to the jaws devices for movinr the jaws out of the path of the :crew head as the screw enters the work, and means for separating individual screws from the screws in the chute and deliverinA them to the jaws, substantially as describe 7. A screw driving machine com rising a screw driver, a yielding screwr ho der provided with jaws, a feed chute for the screws, a slot separatin the jaws of the screw holder in line with an extending from the chute to the jaws, and devices for separating individual screws from the screws in the chute and delivering them to the jaws,- substantially as described. A

8. A screw driving machine comprising a rotary and reciprocating screw driver for enaging and driving the screw, a feed chute ger the screws, a screw holder consisting of two jaws mounted to yield in the direction of movement of the screw and also to swing away from each other, and stationary cam surfaces for spreading the jaws as they are moved downward by the engagement of the screw head therewith, substantially as described.

'if Drsitsmaiii svapoo a In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature, m presence of two witnesses.

FRANK W. SANFORD.

9. A screw driving machine comprising a rotary and reciprocating screw driver for engaging and driving the screws, screw holding Jaws arranged t-o underlie the head of the 5 Screw, devices for feeding individual screws to the j uws, and devices whereby the movement of the 'uws with the screw carries the jaws out of the path of the screw head, substantially as described.

Witnesses:

N. MARSHALL, C. A. SANDERS. 

